Many different thoughts resonate after watching the content videos and continuing to read from The Flat World and Education. These resources either inspired or made me question why things are like they are in our educational system. All the problems and needs presented are aspects that relate to my daily life as a teacher, but they also allow me to reflect on what I can do in my classroom and at my school. What must my school and I include in the classroom to prepare our students for the future? As I read Hammond’s view of the educational system in Finland, South Korea, and Singapore, I highlighted different key elements that stood out to me. One important detail needed for success is teacher preparation. In order to prepare students for the future we need to have prepared and qualified teachers in the classroom. That becomes a problem in our country when access to higher education is so difficult compared to these countries that see the value in providing access and support for teachers. We have a scarcity of teachers and a mentality towards them that is very different compared to these successful models. Unlike our country, these countries are investing in their educators, supporting them, and giving them the value they deserve. As a teacher, reading this reminds me of the responsibility I have to continue my learning and growth in order to support my students. Along with preparing myself as a teacher, there are other factors that are still a problem if I’m trying to help students. Proper funding for schools, the way we assess our students’ learning, and how we teach our students so they can learn, are other aspects that need to be considered. This brings me to the last part of my reflection. The way I see it, students are creators and innovators, but we need to provide the opportunities for that to take place in the classroom. In order to prepare my students for the future I need to give students the opportunities to explore, make mistakes, and learn by creating. My role is to facilitate student learning, but if becomes complicated when the model in place is not in unison with all the necessary areas for success.
3 Comments
Kayla Bryant
9/10/2017 09:33:40 pm
I agree with what you said about teacher preparation, and it makes me think back on my college experience. I feel that everything I know about teaching I learned in the classroom while experiencing it! In college it seems like for the most part we practiced with content knowledge, lesson plan writing, and dissection of standards- rather than application of those items, and how to actually run a classroom. This educational experience of mine points back to how things are developing and changing so quickly. I feel as though I was educated in the past realm of education, and the current realm- including common core, came along as I was wrapping up my student teaching. So even completing my education to become a teacher just 6 years ago, most of what I learned is either updated or entirely different today!
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Amanda Olson
9/11/2017 05:38:11 am
I took away the very same points you did from the reading of Darling-Hammond, and am in complete agreement regarding the necessity of teacher value/continued learning, as well as, the necessity of providing students with the optimal circumstances you described above. As you stated, we are not always given as many opportunities for professional development, continued learning, and research that would produce more effective teaching, but we must then take it into our own hands to provide these opportunities for learning, growth, and improvement for ourselves and to encourage our colleagues as well! In addition, we need to challenge ourselves to provide our students with these same opportunities for growth, and improvement through the encouragement and opportunity to explore, experiment, fail, make mistakes, problem solve, succeed, think critically, and create. We need to remember we don't know the future that beholds them but that we are responsible for preparing our students with the skills and stamina that will allow them to not only access and interact with, but succeed in the future! Thank you for sharing your ideas, I thought about many of the same things as I read this week as well.
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Lisa Gottfried
9/11/2017 06:26:26 pm
Great points. I'm wondering what good teacher prep might look like to address 21st Century skills. Perhaps more externships where teachers get to go out and spend time in the working world for a period of time and are paid to do so? More partnerships with mentors from industry? More ways to break down the classroom walls?
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May 2018
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